Workout of the Day

Jul 03

Industry Standards

When you pair up with a real estate agent for the purchase of your first home, you can expect to be walked through the experience start to finish. Deciding on your budget and what you’re looking for in a home, the process of looking at what’s available in different areas, hammering out the details of loans, negotiating with sellers, taxes, paperwork, escrow, closing -- you can expect to have your agent by your side guiding you through the process from start to finish. And in fact, you would quickly recognize your real estate agent as a very poor performing agent if, upon hiring them, they simply gave you a few loose instructions, handed you some paperwork and maybe a calendar of local open houses, and then told you to figure it out and meet up with them again when you’re done and ready to close a deal.

Similar standards exist for mountaineering guides, teachers, attorneys, driving instructors, etc. If your mountaineering guide hands you a pack with a tent and some ropes, tells you not to fall in any crevasses, and sends you off with a pat on the back and a “good luck getting to the top, see you in a few days (maybe),” you’d have no question in your mind that you’re working with a one-star mountaineer, or perhaps being punked, and you’d be better off turning around and going home.

Yet somehow, these standards have largely passed over the health and fitness industry. Randomly select a self-proclaimed fitness instructor from the phonebook and there’s a good chance they’ll be a lot like your one-star mountaineer: a couple pieces of equipment, a few bits of advice, and they’ll press a button on the clock and send you on your way. And somehow, this often passes muster as adequate “coaching.”

We’re not in the game of pointing fingers for fault, but we can say with certainty that we all -- coaches and students alike -- have a stake in this, and we can all meaningfully contribute towards raising these standards.

Our students are not here for a large room full of equipment, some exercises written on the board, and a timer on the wall; they’re here to learn to be better movers, to be guided through the processes of skill training and applied intensity. And we are not here to write some exercises on a whiteboard and watch you sweat while a timer counts down. We’re here to coach -- to guide and lead the experience -- start to finish.